Sub-$50 tablet Aakash pre-orders skyrocket to 1.4 million units.

Just days after it launched in India, the world’s cheapest tablet has sold out. Originally developed for Indian university students, DataWind did not expect the strong demand for Aakash UbiSlate 7. Subsequently, the British vendor announced the building of three new Aakash factories in Cochin, Noida and Hyderabad. These factories will go join DataWind’s existing factory in the second half of 2012.

Demand was so high, Indian authorities were concerned DataWind was a victim of a cyber attack when e-commerce site Ncarry.com had already sold its batch of 30,000 Aakash tablets. This past October, Aakash pre-orders were estimated to be around 400,000 units, an impressive figure for an Indian tablet market that 250,000-300,000. Latest estimates put pre-orders at 1.4 million units. That number includes 100,000 the Indian government ordered to give to college students at a subsidized price of $35. By comparison, Apple sold 1 million iPads in the first 28 days of its launch in April 2010.

DataWind also announced I slightly more expensive version that will come out in March. The $60 model will include WiFi and 3G.

The Indian tablet market is blowing up. Stay tuned.

photos courtesy of androidcommunity.com

Related articles

• Classpad Enters Indian Tablet Market To Compete With Budget Aakash Tablet (geeky-gadgets.com)
• India’s Low-Cost Aakash Tablet Pre-Orders Hit 1.4 Million (techcrunch.com)